Data Journalism 101

Excellence in Journalism Conference 2014

Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at ASU

Michael J. Berens – !e Seattle Times

Session !ree: Creating Your Own Database Excel Tips and Tricks

Excel Tricks

�  Segregate a date into multiple "elds

�  =YEAR (cell with date)

�  =MONTH (cell with date)

�  =DAY (cell with date)

Excel Tricks

� Determine today’s age from date of birth

�  =DATEDIF(cell,TODAY(),”y”)

Excel Tricks

�  Text to Columns

�  Segregate one cell into many using a delimiter or "xed-length marker �  Hands-on demo

Create your own database

Paper to Excel

Paper to Excel

Keep the “trash” – everything has value

Negotiating for data

Delay - we’re working on it.

Deny – it’s proprietary software

Divert – yours for just $12,000

“If you don’t know who I am, then maybe your best course of action would

be to tread lightly.”

Breaking Bad – Walter White

Develop your nose for data